2010 - News - RIN Conference NAV-10

20 December 2010

R&RNAV contributed five papers to the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN) NAV10 conference held at Church House, London from 30 November to 2 December 2010. The
papers covered several themes that are important for the future evolution of robust and cost-effective GLA Aids to Navigation for the safety and benefit of all mariners. The key themes of the R&RNAV papers are:

• vulnerability of GPS to interference (both natural and deliberate) based on the results of the GLAs’ GPS jamming trials to assess the effect of GPS jamming on
  modern ships’ bridge equipment, shore based systems and some aids-to-navigation;
• future DGPS real-time monitoring networks which could be expanded to alert and mitigate GNSS vulnerabilities, with the potential to scale the solution through the
  coordination of third party networks;
• potential of eLoran as an independent, dissimilar and complementary system backup to GNSS to provide resilient Position, Navigation and timing (PNT) for future
  maritime e-Navigation;
• the value of radar beacons (racons) in the future Aids-to-Navigation mix, and an investigation of racon responses to New Technology radars that operate coherently
  with lower transmitted powers;
• investigation of ‘colour washing’ of lighthouse infrastructure to enhance the conspicuity of the lighthouse against extraneous background lighting (such as street
  lights), recognising the continuing importance of visual Aids-to-Navigation for spatial awareness, complementary to radionavigation aids.

The five papers and their presentations are available within the NAV10 proceedings from RIN and are summarised below:

In addition to the R&RNAV papers, many other papers at RIN NAV10 provided the opportunity to explore and network with other experts in the field and to discuss topics of
mutual interest. Highlighted issues included:

• Promoting the awareness of the rapidly growing threat of GNSS jamming from criminal activity and the disturbing availability of jamming devices for sale that are effective against all GNSS – GPS, GLONASS and future systems (Galileo, Compass).
•  The status and evolution of GNSS and the challenges raised by compatibility and interoperability of the separate GNSS globally, including the concern over the general rise in noise floor at GNSS frequencies as the numbers of GNSS and satellites increase and the separate global systems ‘race’ to achieve higher power levels of transmission.
• Given the hazardously misleading information and confusion of alarms that mariners can experience from bridge systems affected by GPS outages, the urgent need was presented for a back-up to GNSS to ensure the resilience of PNT for maritime applications. The GLAs recognise the role that eLoran can play in this respect, as a timely solution for the assurance of PNT accuracy, integrity, availability and continuity in the age of e-Navigation.
• The limitations of EGNOS are a concern, as Europe struggles to establish a fully working SBAS system with adequate geographic coverage and capability. From the papers at NAV10, although it is planned that the EGNOS Safety-of-Life system should be operational in early 2011, many concerns remain over its function and performance. This suggests that EGNOS should only be used with extreme caution by the maritime community in the immediate future. The GLAs’ IALA beacon Differential GPS (GBAS) service will continue to remain a key augmentation service to mariners for the foreseeable future, providing accurate differentially corrected DGPS positions with reliable integrity.
• As we approach the solar maximum in mid-2013, the effects of ionospheric scintillation on GNSS receivers could be important. Developments in the monitoring, modelling and forecasting of Space Weather events and the coupling into Ionospheric Total Electron Count (TEC) are observed with interest. The resulting -phase and amplitude scintillation of the GPS signal increases the potential disruption of the GPS solution, which poses an unquantifiable risk to the safety of maritime navigation and the GLAs continue to monitor these events closely.

Key Findings
Cautionary comments were made about the status of EGNOS and its availability for operational use in the short term. The timescales for Galileo and GLONASS as effective
alternatives to GPS also appear to be longer than expected.

There was widespread agreement on the need for alternatives to GPS and considerable support for eLoran, although this was not universal.

The development of “consumer” applications for positioning systems far outpaces progress in professional fields.

Work on human factors in navigation could provide valuable insights for the development of e-Navigation.